GAME 1 RECAP – FINAL: #Nets 94 – #Raptors 87

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Updated: April 19, 2014

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The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors by a score of 94-87 in Toronto to take Game 1.

Rundown:

This game was like a heavyweight fight in the first half with Brooklyn jumping out to 25-13 in the first but Toronto battled back to tie it at 42 in the second. quarter.  Tempers flared a few times with Kevin Garnett and Andray Blatche both drawing technicals when they got mixed up with Kyle Lowry. The Nets led 50-46 at half behind 18 points from Deron Williams.  Toronto shot a whopping 21 free throws in the first half to keep the game close.

With the Nets up 57-53 early in the third quarter there was a huge 10 minute delay when the shot clocks stopped working and both teams had to listen for the shot clock from the PA announcer for the rest of the game.  The Raptors made a run and took lead 76-74 with five minutes left and the veteran dinosaurs took over the game from there.   Paul Pierce, who shot horribly in the first three quarters, snapped a string of 19 straight missed 3-pointers with a huge one to put the Nets up 82-76 with three minutes left. Pierce then hit two more jumpers and a layup as he scored 9 of his 15 points in the fourth to lead Brooklyn to a 94-87 victory.

Momentum Changers:

With three minutes left in the game and the Nets clinging to a 82-78 lead Paul Pierce hit a huge 3-pointer, followed by a driving layup and two more fadeaway jumpshots to seal the game.

NUMBERS:

Kevin Garnett recorded his 182nd career playoff blocked shot, 3rd among active players (Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol).

In the regular season, Nets and Raptors committed 62 turnovers apiece in 4 meetings. Raptors committed 12 1st half turnovers today to Nets’ 3.

Garnett tied Magic Johnson for 16th in NBA history in career playoff rebounds (1,465).

Joe Johnson has his Nets’ playoff career-high with 24 points today.

The Nets are still undefeated this season (13-0) when holding their opponent under 40.0% shooting from the field.

Johnson (24) – Williams (24) – Pierce (15) – Livingston (10)

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Kidd’s Corner:

When asked about the Toronto GM’s comments after the game –

“I don’t know who the (Raptors) GM is.  I could care less what they think about Brooklyn,” Kidd said. “We got a job to do and that’s play basketball.”

Quotables

Paul Pierce on stepping up in big moments

“You just get that feeling in the game and I’ve been in those situations a number of times. You know, I don’t get rattled in fourth quarters or down the stretch in playoff settings. I’ve been in pretty much every playoff setting that you can imagine so I just try to stay calm and bring my calmness to the game and just try to compose the rest of the guys and I thought we did a great job today. But the most important thing, I thought we did a great job defensively. It wasn’t about our offense, even though we executed; the defense was great tonight in the fourth quarter.”

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NEXT UP: The Nets will be back in action Tuesday night when they play Game 2 in Toronto against the Raptors.  The game can be seen on YES at 7:30.

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